Transcript:Arthur's Bane
A3lThc7CEAAHlOU.jpg-large.jpeg gaius and sefa.jpg Gwaine promo pic s5 (1).jpg Part One KILGHARRAH In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests '' ''on the shoulders of a young man. His name...Merlin. is running through the hallways and is searching in every door. MERLIN Hello?! MERLIN Hello?! MERLIN Sorry. up to Arthur} ARTHUR Well? MERLIN I've searched everywhere. ARTHUR Merlin, it's not just me you're keeping waiting. MERLIN How is it my fault!? ARTHUR The Queen can't just disappear. MERLIN Well, where is she? ARTHUR That's what I sent you to find out! MERLIN Do you know how big this castle is? ARTHUR Funny enough, I do. MERLIN Then perhaps you should have a look. ARTHUR Merlin, is there anything you're actually capable of doing? MERLIN Putting up with you. ARTHUR Oh, well... GUINEVERE Ahem [Arthur looks up to see Guinevere on the stairs with Sefa following her ARTHUR Guinevere. GUINEVERE I'm sorry I'm late. ARTHUR Late? Not at all. Plenty of time. and Guinevere enter a room side by side. Merlin and Sefa enter side by side behind them ARTHUR Noble Knights of Camelot, countrymen, friends. I welcome you to this meeting of the Round Table. For three long years, we have been blessed with peace and prosperity. But now, it seems a shadow has been cast across our lands. Gwaine trudging through snow ARTHUR Sir Gwaine set off for Ismere some six weeks ago. With him went three score of our finest men. There has been no word from them since. out to show Ismere in the distance. Percival and some other knights walk up beside Gwaine. Gwaine turns around when he hears a growling noise off in the distance. GWAINE Run! ARTHUR At my request, Sir Elyan led a search party to the wastelands of the north. He found no trace of Gwaine or his men. It is as if they have vanished from the face of the Earth. RUADAN The last of the Camelot patrol? MORGANA How long before Arthur sends more? RUADAN Calm yourself. There's nothing to worry about. MORGANA You're wrong, we're running out of time. RUADAN The prophecies do not lie. Arthur's bane is real. Once it is known to us, his end is nigh. MORGANA So you keep saying, yet you cannot tell me what it is. RUADAN The Diamair will tell us. The Diamair is the key to all knowledge. MORGANA Then where is this key? RUADAN It is here, beneath your feet. MORGANA For three months we've been searching and what have we found? Nothing. RUADAN It is but a moment compared to the eternity of knowledge the key will bring. MORGANA If I find that you've lied to me... RUADAN Patience is the stepping stone to wisdom, Morgana. MORGANA You think I don't know that after all I've been through? For two long years, I saw nothing but darkness. Patience and I are old friends. GWAINE Lady Morgana, we really have to stop meeting like this. MORGANA You're not looking so pretty now, are you, Sir Knight? GWAINE It would appear not. MORGANA Arthur should know not to send his men so far north. GWAINE Well, get on with it, then. Kill me. MORGANA I will. But first you're going to have to help me find something. ELYAN We know Gwaine and his men crossed the pass, here, at Isulfor. But beyond that, there was no trace. The trail went cold. ARTHUR What of this story that the fortress of Ismere has been occupied once more? ELYAN I heard many rumours, Sire. All of them had one name in common... Morgana. ARTHUR Then we have no time to lose. GAIUS What if the rumours are true, Sire? You may be walking into a trap. ARTHUR The Knights of Camelot do not abandon their own. GAIUS Morgana knows that. She'll be waiting for you. ARTHUR These men have fought for me, bled for me... GUINEVERE May I make a suggestion? What if you were to take a different route? Approach Ismere from the West. ARTHUR Through Annis' lands? GAIUS It would certainly take Morgana by surprise. ARTHUR Would Annis grant safe passage to so many armed men? LEON I believe she would, Sire. ARTHUR Dispatch a rider immediately. We'll follow at dawn. Remember, if we're to succeed, no-one must know of our intentions. MERLIN Sorry... SEFA It's fine, really. I'm the one who should apologise. MERLIN What for? SEFA I keep getting you into trouble. MERLIN I'm used to it. ARTHUR Merlin! MERLIN You should hear him when he's really angry. ARTHUR MERLIN! MERLIN Like now. If you need help with anything, let me know. SEFA Thank you. MERLIN Do you really think Gwaine and Percival could still be alive? ARTHUR I have to find out. They're Knights of the Round Table. It's a bond we share. MERLIN I understand. ARTHUR If it was you who'd disappeared, Merlin, I wouldn't bother. GWAINE Did you find the others? PERCIVAL Every last one. GWAINE Do they know what we're searching for? PERCIVAL Some kind of key. GWAINE The key to what? PERCIVAL I don't know. But the men say Morgana's obsessed. She won't rest until she finds it. GWAINE Let's hope we don't succeed, then. ARTHUR The gorge marks the start of Annis' lands. ELYAN It's prime ambush territory. ARTHUR Take some men and follow the ridge line. ELYAN There's something you need to see. LOCHRU Emrys... LOCHRU Emrys... MERLIN What happened to you? Who did this to your village? LOCHRU That it happened at all is all that matters. I have been haunted by this moment for many years... since long before you set foot on this Earth, Emrys, I have waited for its arrival with the sorrow in my heart. For even as Camelot flowers, so the seeds of her destruction are being sown. The prophets speak of Arthur's bane. You would do well to fear it, for it stalks him like a ghost in the night. Unless you act quickly, Emrys, even you cannot alter the never-ending circle of his... fate. hand falls back to the water. Merlin then sees a vision in the water of Mordred walking to the injured Arthur. They cross swords, and then Mordred pierces his sword through Arthur's body. ARTHUR Is he alive? ARTHUR What is it? ARTHUR Come on, Merlin - you've seen a dead body before. As soon as we've given these people a proper burial, we're moving out. Knights are sleeping, but Merlin is still awake. He leaves the campsite. MERLIN O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd' hup' anankes! MERLIN I need to know about a Druid symbol. A black spiral, within it a thin, yellow coil. KILGHARRAH It is the mark of a vates. A Druid seer. Where did you encounter him? MERLIN On my journey here. He warned me of Arthur's bane. KILGHARRAH His bane? MERLIN And then he showed me a battle. A terrible battle. Arthur was fighting for his life. I saw him wounded. I saw him fall. KILGHARRAH The vates' power of prophecy is unrivalled, even by a high priestess. MERLIN So this battle will come to pass? KILGHARRAH I do not know, young warlock, but one thing is certain... this was no chance meeting. MERLIN You think I should heed his warning? KILGHARRAH There was a time when the words of a vates were considered a gift. MERLIN Then why do they feel like a burden? KILGHARRAH A wise man is not cowed by knowledge, Merlin. Instead, he uses it to guide him. MERLIN How? KILGHARRAH